Karnataka baby dies over superstitious belief; officials urge Kadugolla community elders to shun ‘belief’

Despite doctors’ advice to keep the girl in NICU for another month, Vasantha and her husband Siddesh left the hospital on July 14. Vasantha and the newborn were then kept in a makeshift hut outside the village, as per a superstition prevalent in their Kadugolla community.

People of the Kadugolla community believe new mothers and their babies are impure and keep them out of their homes during a specific period. This practice, known as ‘suthaka’, is also followed to avoid the “wrath of their ancestral deity Kuladevru”. Similarly, menstruating women and those in the late stages of pregnancy are also isolated.

After Vasantha and her baby were quarantined, it exposed the infant to extreme weather conditions like rain and low temperature, leading to respiratory issues. On July 20, the baby was rushed to the Tumakuru hospital in a semi-conscious state, where she failed to respond to treatment and died three days later, the hospital authorities said.

Government officials, including Tumakuru taluk tahsildar Siddesh M, visited the village on July 24 after they came to know about the infant’s death and urged the elders of the Kadugolla community to reconsider the tradition to ensure women and their newborns are safe.

In 2019, another village in Tumakuru had made headlines after Dalit BJP MP A Narayanaswamy was not allowed to enter Pemmanahalli because he belonged to the Madiga community.